The NFL Replacement Ref Audit

The Embattled Officials Aren't Wrong as Much as You Think, but They're Definitely Slower

ENLARGE

The replacement referees have called roughly the same rate of penalties as last season, but certain penalties like pass interference and holding have been flagged more often.
Associated Press

By

Kevin Clark

September 19, 2012

Through two weeks of action, the NFL's replacement officials have caused an uproar. Quarterback Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens said the refs are "affecting the integrity of the game," which is actually among the nicest things said about the group in the last few days.

Think NFL's replacement referees have messed up big time? Think again. WSJ's Kevin Clark has the numbers to prove they're doing about as good a job as the referees currently in contract dispute with the NFL. (Photo: Associated Press)

The labor dispute centers on a pension plan and salaries—and though there hasn't been any discussion, the referees union sent a letter to the NFL pushing a compromise on the pension on Tuesday. Still, a great divide remains and it looks like the league, its players and its fans must deal with the world of replacement refs. The consensus is that they take too long to make decisions and when they do, they are wrong. But through two weeks, the numbers actually suggest things aren't as bad as they seem.

REPLAYS

NFL coaches have thrown 29 challenge flags this season—that's on pace to be an 11% increase from last season. While it may seem like this would give referees a very public chance to be exposed, that hasn't been the case. Only 31% of those calls have been overturned, which is down from 52% last season and 42% in 2010. The challenge call sends the play to an upstairs booth, where it's reviewed by an official who isn't a replacement.

To be sure, there are some changes this year that could affect replays. Starting this season, there's an automatic replay for touchdowns and turnovers, meaning coaches can use challenges more freely on other aspects of the game.

THEY ARE SLOW

A common image in the last two weeks has been a group of referees huddled together having a conversation while mayhem surrounds them. Their indecision has contributed to games lasting six minutes longer, up to three hours and 13 minutes. As a whole, it's not an apocalyptic number, but the problem is with individual penalties. According to WSJ analysis of 10 games from last week and 10 from Week 2 of last season, which featured roughly 175 penalties, the average penalty call from the replacement refs took 31.3 seconds from the time the whistle was blown until the explanation of the penalty was finished. That's eight seconds more than the time used on average by the regular referees.

ENLARGE

Denver Broncos head coach John Fox arguing a call with replacement NFL referees on Monday.
European Pressphoto Agency

More

The problem was the seven penalties in our sample that kept the replacements in discussion for more than one minute, including one roughing the passer call in the Dallas-Seattle game that took 90 seconds to sort out. In last year's sampling of games, only one penalty featured a conference longer than a minute.

FLAG FREQUENCY

In the past two weeks, 470 penalties were called—that's a difference of 11 penalties from the same span last season. That's not the only consistency. Common penalties like delay of game, illegal block, offside and roughing the passer were nearly identical to their 2011 numbers, according to Stats LLC. There hasn't been much of a home-field bias, either. In 2011, 44.5% of penalties through two weeks were called on the home team. That number rose to just 45.1% this season.

ENLARGE

THEY PUNISH…

Defensive backs. Fifty pass interference calls were made through two weeks this year. That's up 28% from last season. Holding penalties were called 121 times, up from 107 a year ago. Perhaps most startling, they've called 21 personal fouls, up from four last season. Those fouls are general misbehavior penalties and don't include infractions like roughing the passer or unnecessary roughness.

THEY IGNORE…

Procedural penalties. Illegal shift (2011: 6, 2012: 0) and illegal player downfield (2011: 7, 2012: 1) seem to have been overlooked by the officials. Illegal use of the hands is down from eight last year to four this season.

THEY AREN'T WINNING STYLE POINTS

In the Philadelphia Eagles' win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Ravens' receiver Jacoby Jones's scored what looked to be a dramatic fourth quarter touchdown. When he came down with the ball, no flag was visible. The call eventually was offensive pass interference—but it was never signaled to the players. Flacco said the referee threw a blue beanie instead of a flag.

You'd think that was the low point, but it's not. On Tuesday, Eagles running back LeSean McCoy claimed in a radio interview that a referee mentioned he needed McCoy to do well for the sake of his fantasy football team. A league spokesman said officials are not allowed to play fantasy football and that the league is investigating.

The NFL also removed a referee from Sunday's Saints-Panthers game due to pictures a referee posted on Facebook showing him as a…massive Saints fan. (The referee will no longer serve as an onfield official.) In another incident, in Monday's Atlanta-Denver game, the referees gave Denver 11 yards on a defensive holding penalty, which by NFL rules is worth five yards. The Broncos scored on the drive.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.